Demons are Forever: Confessions of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (16 page)

She nodded.

“But I do promise to be careful. Okay?”

“Okay, Mom.“ She gnawed on her bottom lip, clearly wanting to add something else.

“What is it, Al? What’s still on your mind?”

“Mr. Long helps you, right? I mean, so that you’re not alone? He’ll help keep you safe?”

I thought about David. About patrolling with him night after night, the way he watched me so protectively, and the concern he showed for my kids.

“Mom?”

“Sure, baby. David will help keep me safe.”

“And Eddie?”

I managed to withhold a smile. Eddie had flat out told me that he was out of the game. He wouldn’t refuse his only pseudo-great-granddaughter, though. “You ask him to, okay? You ask, and I know he’ll watch my back.”

“And me? I want to help, too.”

“Allie ...“ I fought to keep the sharpness out of my voice. “Didn’t we just have this—”

“No, no. I get that. I mean like what you said before. Reading the newspapers and, I don’t know, keeping an eye out for creepy guys.”

“My priority right now is to get you to be able to defend yourself. You have enough to do with school and working out to keep you busy.”

“But if I get the work done? Then you’ll let me? Please?”

I looked in her eyes and knew that I had to say yes. Demon Hunting was part of her life, too, and she wouldn’t be satisfied unless she was helping. I knew, because I could remember feeling the exact same way.

“Your schoolwork comes first.”

“Totally,“ she said, crossing her heart with her forefinger. ”So give me the lowdown,“ she said, and she looked so eager that I had to laugh.

“Later,“ I promised.

“But Mo-
om.
You know I’ll just keep bugging you. Please? Please, please, please?”

“Fine,“ I said. “But this is the short version.“ I told her about Andramelech and Nadia, promising to fill in the details later. “Until then, if you have any time to do research, maybe you can learn what you can about the demon. Or see if you can find any reference to Nadia on the Internet. It’s a long shot, but ...”

“Sure. I can totally do that.”

“Good,“ I said, then got up. “Now get some sleep.”

“But what about Daddy?”

“What about him?“ I asked.

“You’re still going to let me look, right? Try to figure out what happened?”

“Yeah, sweetheart, I am. Same rules, though. School—”

“Comes first. Yeah. I got that.”

“Good,“ I said, hiding a smile.

“Mom?”

“What, baby?”

“You still love Daddy, right?“ It was a question she’d asked earlier, and my heart twisted with the realization that she could doubt that, even for a moment.

“Allie, sweetheart, I will
always
love your dad.”

“No matter what we find out?”

“No matter what,“ I said.

She nodded, considering that. “Mom?”

I reached over and stroked her hair. “What, baby?”

“I love you.”

My heart swelled. “I love you, too. More than all the stars in the sky,“ I added, in the familiar bedtime ritual from when she was a little girl.

“And all the angels in Heaven,“ she answered, and I swear I saw a little girl in footie pajamas curled up on the bed where my fourteen-year-old should be.

I’d spent the last fourteen years trying to keep her safe, and still she’d ended up in harm’s way simply by being my daughter. Now, I could only pray that I was doing the right thing by continuing to hunt—and by letting her train.

I knew God would watch over my baby, but if she was good with throwing a knife ... well, it never hurt to give the Lord a little bit of help with the job.

Eight

”I want answers,“
I said, unable to keep the anger and fear out of my voice. “The bastard attacked my daughter. If anything ...“ My voice hitched, and I tried again. “If anything happens to her, I ...“

I shut my eyes, unable to even go there. Beside me, David took my hand, then gave it a gentle squeeze. I squeezed back, gratefully soaking in his strength. “We’re going to figure this out,“ he said. “And we’re going to keep her safe.”

I closed my eyes and nodded. It was a hollow promise; I knew that better than anyone. But at the same time, I knew he meant it with all his heart and soul.

“All the good intentions in the world aren’t going to help us,“ I said, looking at Father Ben, who was sitting behind his desk. I’d dropped Timmy at KidSpace that morning, then hooked up with David and Father Ben at the cathedral during David’s lunch hour. The wait hadn’t done my patience any good, and I was a bundle of nervous energy. I wanted answers, yes, but I also wanted to hit something.

“They’ve attacked David, me, and now Allie. And we still don’t have any idea what the hell they want. Some damn stone that doesn’t mean a thing to anybody.“ I gave Father Ben a significant look. “Or does it?”

“We might be getting close,“ he said. “I talked with Father Corletti a few hours ago. I know a bit more,“ he said. ”But still not enough.”

“Every little bit helps,“ David said, settling into a chair. ”Shoot.”

“Did you find Nadia?“ I asked, taking the chair next to him.

“No luck there,“ he admitted, “although investigators are back on it. There’s still low confidence within Forza that she’s alive, but with this new activity related to Andramelech, the investigators have decided to renew their efforts.”

“Good,“ I said. “But if it’s not about Nadia, then what news did Father Corletti have for you?”

“Apparently he found a reference in an ancient text from within the Vatican library. An obscure reference to Andramelech. An interview with one of his followers.”

I frowned. “I thought there were a lot of interviews with his followers.”

Father Ben nodded. “Recent ones, yes. The cult members who suddenly snapped out of his spell, presumably because the demon’s powers were cut off when he was bound. This interview is much older.”

“What did it say?”

“Unfortunately, not enough,“ Father admitted. “The text was from the mid-1400s, and the subject was captured by a knight Hospitaller after a siege on a small village outside Jerusalem.“ He looked at me gravely, then lowered his voice to a whisper. “Every child in the village had been slaughtered,“ he said.

I shivered, my thoughts immediately turning toward my kids. “Is that why they attacked Allie? Are the children of San Diablo in danger?”

“I don’t know,“ Father admitted. “Other than the attack on Allie, there’s been no unusual activity related to children.“ He gestured to the police band radio on his credenza, his first purchase through his Forza expense account a few months ago.

“More likely she was attacked because she’s your daughter,“ David said. “If the demon population is up to something, it makes sense to keep you off guard.”

“And what better way to throw me off than to attack my kids.”

“Exactly,“ Father Ben said.

“Which brings us right back where we were,“ I said. “We need to figure this out. And we need to end it.“ I looked at Ben. “So go on. The interview Father Corletti found. What else did it say?”

“Apparently Andramelech was trying to build his army. The reference said that the army would be ’amassed by mining the stores of kings and gathering his imprisoned compatriots.’ ”

“Uh-huh,“ I said, completely clueless. “So what exactly does that mean?”

“I’m afraid we don’t know,“ Father Ben admitted. “The archivists in Rome are examining the collections in great detail now, hoping to find a secondary reference. Anything, actually, that might give us some insight.”

“And in the meantime, we keep patrolling,“ I said. ”Keep trying to locate new demons and pare down the operation.“ It wasn’t a satisfactory solution, but at least it played to my strengths. Research had never been my strong suit. Unlike Eric, I’d always been much more inclined to forget the rationale and simply go forth and conquer. This time was no exception. And as much as I wanted an explanation, my blood burned to kick some demon ass. Go after my kids, and that’s really the only possible reaction.

“It sounds to me like Andramelech was trying to free demons that had been imprisoned somewhere,“ David said.

“The prisons of kings,“ I said. “And any demon he freed would surely pledge allegiance to Andramelech, right?”

“Makes sense,“ David said. “Maybe while he was trying to free the other demons, he got trapped himself.”

“But we’re talking, what? Six hundred years? Wouldn’t he just give up?”

“Time doesn’t mean the same to a demon,“ David pointed out reasonably. “And if he was incorporeal for some of that time it could easily take centuries for him to not only locate the bound demons but determine how to release them.”

“I suppose,“ I said, still a bit dubious.

“Actually, I think it’s a good theory,“ Father Ben said.

“But how does it tie to San Diablo?“ I protested. “There are no kings in California.”

“Perhaps the reference to a king is metaphorical,“ Father Ben said. “Christ is King.”

“A true relic of Christ,“ I said, turning the idea over in my head and deciding it had merit. “Except St. Mary’s doesn’t have anything like that. Do we?”

“Not catalogued,“ Father Ben said, shooting me a smile. ”But I doubt there is something of such significance here.”

“A piece of the cross?“ I suggested. “It’s possible something like that made its way here.”

“The trouble is we simply can’t know,“ Father Ben said. ”In the meantime ...”

“Damage control,“ I said. “And hope Rome comes up with something.”

We all looked at each other. It wasn’t much, but at least we were a bit further along than we’d been the day before.

I pushed myself up and out of my chair. “That’s it, then. We’ll talk when we learn more.”

Beside me, David checked his watch. “I need to get back. I’ve got a class in half an hour.”

I took a step toward the door, then paused. “Actually, Padre, there’s one other thing.”

“What is it Kate?”

“It’s about Eric. I’m making no progress here. Can you call Rome? See what you can find out for me?”

“What did you find out from Father Donnelly?“ Father Ben asked, referring to the priest that Father Corletti had referred me to. When I’d first learned that Eric had decided to train as an
alimentatore
, I’d called Father Corletti. After all, he’d been like a parent to me, and it was natural for me to turn to him when I was confused and hurt. That he might have inside information about my husband was a bonus.

He’d told me that Eric had been working with Father Donnelly but that beyond that, he had no specifics with regard to Eric’s training. I’d called Father Donnelly and left numerous messages before I was finally able to get the man on the phone.

All my trouble, though, had been worth very little. He simply reiterated what I’d already learned. Eric, he’d said, had felt a calling to return to the folds of
Forza
. He’d planned on telling me, but never found the time or the words. He’d been an eager and excellent student, but as far as Father D knew, he’d only been a student. There was nothing in the teachings or their conversations that would suggest that Eric had delved into anything dangerous. And certainly not anything that would get him killed.

Father Donnelly had always believed that Eric’s death was a random mugging, just as the police had concluded all those years ago. When I shared Eric’s notes with him, he agreed that Eric had fallen victim to foul play, but he had no more help to offer, only prayers that I would find the answer. Or, if not the answer, then that I would find peace.

So far, I’d found neither.

“Are you sure you really want to know?“ David asked as we left the rectory with Father Ben’s promise to do a bit more poking around.

I eyed him suspiciously. “Why? Are you suggesting I might not like what I find out?”

“I’m just saying that sometimes our memories are better than our reality.”

“Right,“ I said, trying to process what he was saying. And, more important, what he wasn’t saying. A shiver ripped through me, but whether merely a chill or a sense of foreboding, I didn’t know. Eddie still believed that Eric was hiding within the man I knew as David. And although I believed David’s denial, I couldn’t quash the crumb of doubt that tickled the back of my mind.

Finally, I decided to bite the bullet. “What about it, David?“ I asked, pausing in front of my car. “You told me that Eric was your friend. Did he tell you something?”

“It’s been almost six years, Kate. Why reopen old wounds?”

“It’s not your decision to make. It’s Eric’s. And he left me the notes. He wanted me to know.”

“Back then, sure. But that was before you remarried. Before you had a son. Before you got a whole new life.”

“But now I’ve stepped right back into the old one.”

“Katie—”

I held up a hand. “You can’t hold back on me simply because time has passed. That’s not a decision you’re allowed to make.”

I watched his face as I spoke, saw the hesitation in his eyes. For a moment, I thought he would turn me down again. But then he nodded. “Fine, Kate,“ he said. “He left you those notes, so you’re right. He must have wanted you to know.”

“To know
what
?”

“Get in,“ he said, gesturing toward my car. “Give me a ride back to the school and I’ll tell you while we drive.”

“Start talking,“ I demanded as soon as I’d started the car.

“I can only tell you what Eric told me. And before you start interrogating me, let me tell you flat out that my mind is a little fuzzy on the details.”

“Why?”

“I was in a car wreck, Kate,“ he said, thumping his cane on the floorboards. “I almost died. Sorry if that’s inconveniencing you now, but ...”

“Right. Fine. Go ahead.”

“A few years back, Eric contacted Father Corletti and told him he wanted to train as an alimentatore. The father put him in touch with Father Donnelly, and they started from there.”